19 September 2015

The new Viking wardrobe project is nearly complete. I've hinted at it a bit over the past couple of months (click the "Viking" tag at the bottom of this post to see), but I'm finally ready to show you [most of] my new stuff.

The full story is this: in 2012 I made a single Viking outfit to wear to the Battle of Ethandune Viking-themed event in the barony of Bjornsborg. The event itself was EPIC. The outfit was...pretty half-assed. I didn't do any research on it, and I barely put any effort into the outfit itself - I didn't care for Viking at the time, and I hadn't planned to wear it more than the once. Oh, how wrong I was about all of that. Over the last few years I've done a ton of Viking clothing for other people, and along the way I've had to stop and do a bit of research for each project, and the more I learned, the more I became fascinated by the culture and dress of the Vikings of the 10th-11th centuries.

So this year I set about immersing myself in all things Viking. I've been doing a TON of reading and web-surfing, I've made progress re-fashioning the original set of clothes for myself, and also am creating an entirely new Viking wardrobe so that this October, when Bjornsborg is holding another Viking-themed event, I'll not only be able to keep in-theme the entire event, but I'll also look fully and correctly dressed.

The first half of the project was to make-over the original outfit (here's a pic of it on me, and the full outfit on a table). I showed you what I did to the under dress in this post in July. The blue apron dress that went with it has been altered to fit me better, and re-dyed to refresh the color, but I haven't done anything else to it as yet. I also took the coat completely apart and am currently in the process of creating a new lining and some trim pieces for it. I'll show you pics of that apron dress and the coat when they're both finished.

The second part of the project was to create a few new complete outfits for myself. I decided to use the project to hone my meager embroidery skills. I'm no expert, but I've learned a lot, gotten a lot of practice, and I'm really happy with my results on the following pieces:

Blue linen under dress (after the dress found at Eura, Finland), with seam embroidery.

A plain, black, linen under dress with
layered chain stitching along the cuffs
and neckline (May 2015)

Linen apron dress with hand-sewn loops and loop straps, and embroidery on
the seams and top/bottom edges.

Black linen apron dress with seam embroidery, top/bottom edge embroidered
botanical design with rayon ribbon appliqué'd across the top and bottom edges
(the embroidery on the straps is as yet unfinished)

Whew! This has all taken me months to get done in my spare time, and the Great Big Viking Project isn't nearly complete. Right now I'm gearing up for LPT (and trying to ignore the nightmares about it I keep having where I suck so badly at what I do that I get fired from the SCA!), but as soon as I get home I'll have more pics of more new Viking stuff for you - a couple of things I'm showing at LPT and don't want to post here yet, and some things that are in-progress but on hold until after I get back from the event (like that original coat, some jewelry, and a few small accessory items).

Meanwhile, some random thoughts about this project:

I. Love. That. Eura dress! While I'm comfy in my plain black under dress and my blue-and-green tunic, the Eura dress is SO COMFY, and VERY flattering on me, even with nothing worn on top. I really want to make some more in that style.

I think I've finally reached the point where I actually enjoy embroidering! I had a lot of fun working on these pieces, and I have some decorative coming up that I can't wait to get into! Because, as my roommate keeps reminding me, I am a Crazy Person.

16 September 2015

....is over. Thank god. Actually, I had a freaking BLAST, I'm just glad the stress is over. I was so nervous about this event that I stressed myself into puking my guts out for three days before the event. Fail.

But LPT was completely awesome. I had so much fun I had a hugely busy day. I met so many amazing artisans, and basically got to sit around and talk shop for eight hours straight. It was mentally exhausting, but it was SO much fun! I got really good feedback on my recent projects and my work in general, and I have some really nifty new ideas and lots of notes scribbled hastily on a sheet of paper that I still need to try to transcribe into something I can use (seriously, have you seen my handwriting? This is no small feat. Even *I* can't read it half the time).

So. Pics from the event, and I'll talk about stuff a bit more in depth in the next post (which I thought I posted already, actually, whoops):

First iteration of my table display, with jewelry...

...about which no one gave a shit, but EVERYONE wanted
to see my painted boxes, so I ended up changing things around

You know that thing where you go to pack a suitcase
before a trip and a cat appears in it? Rory apparently wanted
to go to LPT with me the day I was working out the display
on my cutting table at home last week.

A closer look at some of my embroidery, photo by a friend

ditto

Me in one of my new Viking outfits

(Aside: Idk wtf this pose was, someone snapped this as I was on my way to the food because OMG FOOD NOW and I almost just ate her, I was so hungry. The other thing I'm doing in this photo: wearing the outfit that was supposed to be on my mannequin. I had several people remark on the fact that my display had little to no height element, and see how your neighbor has all these stands and height variation? *facepalm* I had an unanticipated wardrobe malfunction while I was setting everything up, and ended up not being able to wear the dress I showed up to the event wearing, and instead put on the outfit that I had been about to dress Violet in. Violet herself spent the day on the floor behind me, stark naked, hehe. Oh, well. Things happen).

Simona della Luna and I, giddy and nervous after set-up in the am

I really can't express enough how much fun I had at the event, what a positive experience the whole thing was, and how grateful I am for the friends I took with me and the new friends I made while I was there. I had been so terrified of this new thing that I stressed myself into throwing up for three days before we left. I'm so immensely relieved that everything not only turned out okay, but pretty much turned out to be one of my favorite events, ever.

Next up: Bjornsborg's Quest For Valhalla, in October - and the post I thought I posted already, and the reason for all this Viking craziness.